When a reporter asked Trump on Thursday evening whether or not he would be drawing back in Minneapolis, he responded: “Well, we want to keep our country safe. We’ll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.”
“So, not pulling back?” the reporter asked.
“No, no, not at all,” the president said.
This stands in stark contrast to what his administration has said this week.
After federal agents killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday, Senate Democrats had threatened a government shutdown over the inclusion of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding and, within it, a historic increase to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) budget.
Seemingly in response, the Trump administration scrambled to claw back some of its messaging.
The White House reneged on top officials’ comments calling Pretti an “assassin” and “terrorist,” and the administration booted Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino from his position overseeing the raid in Minneapolis. The new chief of Operation Metro Surge, “border czar” Tom Homan, assured the media that the operation was going to “draw down.” Trump himself said on Tuesday that “we’re going to deescalate a little bit” in Minneapolis.
And, for good measure, Trump administration insiders leaked some stories to the media about turmoil within Trump’s cabinet about immigration policy.
Just hours after Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) announced that they had reached a deal to avert a shutdown, however, Trump changed his tune. That deal, which would give DHS two weeks of funding to operate while negotiations are ongoing, was announced Thursday afternoon.
Trump’s comments lend credence to critics who said that the administration was only posturing about deescalating while never planning to do so.
The Senate still hasn’t passed the funding package due to some Republican holdouts. However, other Republicans have framed the negotiations as a win — and critics have slammed the deal as one that disproportionately benefits Trump.
The threat of a government shutdown was a major leverage point for Democrats. It would begin this weekend, just a week after federal agents’ killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, giving Democrats power over Republicans to extract concessions on the Trump administration’s ICE operation.
Trump was desperate to avoid it — especially after his party shouldered much of the blame for the historically long shutdown last year. In a post on Truth Social on Thursday evening, he lauded the package.
Meanwhile, critics have slammed Schumer for the deal, which only buys Republicans time to distance themselves from the Pretti killing and continue the administration’s raids in Minneapolis and other cities unhindered.
“Leader Schumer should ask the Minnesotans who are watching their neighbors get killed in cold blood if a deal with no plan to stop ICE is enough right now,” said MoveOn Civic Action.
You’re still assuming Chuck Schumer is against Trump. He’s not. They’re on the same side. This isn’t a battle between political parties. It’s a battle against the rich and everyone else. Schumer isn’t bad at making deals. He’s excellent at making people think he’s trying.
I’d disagree only with that last part. His role isn’t to make people think he’s trying. Quite the opposite. His role is to be a dumping ground for the frustration of the Democratic party. His role is to tank the majority of the criticism. “We just need to replace Schumer”, “We just need to overturn the fillabuster”, “We just need to overturn citizens United”, “We just need to vote blue no matter who”.
The constant lies that liberal voters believe that keeps them inactive in anything but electoral politics. When you believe the system is fixable by a set of specific goals you remain fighting within that system instead of fighting against it.
We just need to replace First past the post voting.
Wait, are they going to make the leader of the party the rotating villain this season?
That’s . . . novel I guess?
Is he, though?
For those who think “vote blue no matter who?”
Absolutely
In “conspiracy land” nobody is stupid, bad at their job, incompetent, or makes mistakes. Everything is done on purpose and it’s successful.
You then just warp everybody’s motives to fit your new conclusions.
You’re right, no one ever does anything on purpose. Somehow the richest and most powerful people in the world are all stupid, bad at their job, incompetent, and make mistakes. There are only coincidences. Nothing is done on purpose.
HAVE YOU HEARD ELON MUSK SPEAK? Or TRUMP for that matter? These people are morons.
They’re good at what made them rich and powerful! They’re not good at much else, they’re not smart about much else, and they can’t really do much else. But! They’re still they’re very good at what they do, and they love doing it.
They have a specialized set of skills and interests that revolve around making money and gaining influence/power.
Your enemies aren’t dummies, that’s why they win. Stop underestimating them. They’re gonna fucking kill us all.
They’re not perfectly good at it.
They’re very good at it. Anyone can make mistakes but they’re certainly not stupid, bad at their job, or incompetent.
But what they’re good at is “being rich” and “being sociopaths”.
They’re also good at collaborating together to both protect the wealth they already have and to get even richer.
They have class solidarity and are always cooperating to advance the interests of their social class.